The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916) - D.W. Griffith
Basic Facts
· Director is D.W. Griffith
· Used a lot of film techniques such as tinting films for different perspectives
· Many scenes were filmed in different angles and not just upfront
· He used many inter-tittles to explain what is going on in the scene
· Used music in the background that went in sync with the film
· He also used natural landscapes for the background
· Made in 1915
· Both films showed the violence of the civil war
· They were looked at as a racist film
· It was viewed as a contributor to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan
· Was taken out of hand and caused riots in black communities
By Aaron Fronda
· Director is D.W. Griffith
· Used a lot of film techniques such as tinting films for different perspectives
· Many scenes were filmed in different angles and not just upfront
· He used many inter-tittles to explain what is going on in the scene
· Used music in the background that went in sync with the film
· He also used natural landscapes for the background
· Made in 1915
· Both films showed the violence of the civil war
· They were looked at as a racist film
· It was viewed as a contributor to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan
· Was taken out of hand and caused riots in black communities
By Aaron Fronda
General Opinion/Analysis
The Birth of A Nation, a film directed by the genius D.W. Griffith, was one of the most controversial films ever created in the history of film. The three hour spectacle pours into the story of two important families of the time period, the Stonemans and the Camerons. Phil Stoneman and Ben Cameron, the eldest sons of each respective family, fall in love with the sisters in the other's family. Despite being sent off to war for the cause of their beliefs and being on opposing sides, their friendship remains fully intact, even in direct battle. On April 9, 1865, the Confederate Union surrenders and the Camerons and Stonemans return home. After Lincoln is assassinated, the families move to closer locations, further encouraging the relationships between Phil, Margaret, Ben, and Elsie. There is a man named Silas Lynch who is a Southern black supremacist who also has plans for the future of America. Mr. Stoneman assumes a more powerful role in the government, and the families try to hold down their regular lives with who remains of their family from the war. In the second half of the highly controversial film, the Reconstruction era is displayed as blacks tryingto constantly instill fear into the whites. While the two romances try to reblossom, memories of the war precent Margaret from being able to speak to Phil. Gus, a renegade black soldier, spies on Ben and Elsie as they reconvene their love. Eventually, after a horrific image of a terrifying Election Day, Ben finds it in him to rebel, after seeing black children scare white children by jumping out from under white sheets, pretending to be ghosts. Thus, the Ku Klux Klan was born. Women make thousands of uniforms in secret. Men prepare to join and fight. Ben's involvement breaks Elsie's heart, but she stays with him and doesn't rat him out. Flora, the youngest Cameron, consoles Elsie and then goes out into the forest, only to be caught by Gus, the black soldier, and offered marriage. It becomes a chase and she falls off of a cliff to her death, saying she would rather die than be touched by him. When Silas Lunch finds her body, the fight between the KKK and the black militia begins. When Elsie runs to Lynch for help, he tries to force her to marry him, saying he would make her the queen of his "black empire." Austin Stoneman, Elsie's father, then luckily interrupts and the Klan rescues the Stonemans trapped in the cabin amidst the bloody mess outside their windows. The movie closes with a scene of the black people in hell, shown worshipping Satan and burning. The white people and the Klanmembers are shown in the presence of Jesus and many angels, celebrating. That is the closing scene.
Obviously, the plot is a horrifying example of true racism. The man had a corrupted opinion that is obviously, and rightfully, unaccepted in today's American society and culture. The message behind his film is one that was unaccepted at the time, and began the fall of D.W. Griffith's career as director. That being said, technologically speaking, the man was a genius. His film was beyond the time period. Most films being made during this time were afraid to go past ten minutes, much less three hours! He developed an intricate plot that wove the stories of two families together, as if they were strings on a dreamcatcher, and each historical event is a bead, simply making a more complex and interesting plot. Each raised conflict was settled in a fitting way. Overall, the film was beyond it's time. While DW Griffith was known for his serious and more intense narrative films as compared to George Melies or Edwin Porter's magical, more fictional films, this was considered even beyond his expectations. The use of close-ups was much more prominent than films of that time and proved to be more effective emotionally. The iris shot, a thick vignette frame around the camera, was often used, and the fade to black technology was astounding, considering the smoothness on a filmstrip.
The sequel to this film, Intolerance, was much more expensive and production-wise, more incredible, which makes it all the more unfortunate that people didn't pay much attention to it. They wrote Griffith off after the original release of Birth of A Nation, and his efforts to repair his image proved futile with the three hour second release. However, like its prequel, it proved to be incredibly advanced. With text over image, narrating each story, it was a spectacle for a movie being made in 1916. The film showed four plots, a contemporary drama set in Paris, a drama about the Pharisees and Jesus, ancient Babylon, and the French Revolution. They all showed parallel meanings, considering how intolerance of anyone can affect a society and it's ecosystem. The intricate scenery, the dramatic acting, and the expensive costumes with massive cast and crew- all of it to essentially take back the harsh words put out with his breakthrough film. Unfortunately for him, he took his opportunity to climb high and failed.
By Emily Forschen
The Birth of A Nation, a film directed by the genius D.W. Griffith, was one of the most controversial films ever created in the history of film. The three hour spectacle pours into the story of two important families of the time period, the Stonemans and the Camerons. Phil Stoneman and Ben Cameron, the eldest sons of each respective family, fall in love with the sisters in the other's family. Despite being sent off to war for the cause of their beliefs and being on opposing sides, their friendship remains fully intact, even in direct battle. On April 9, 1865, the Confederate Union surrenders and the Camerons and Stonemans return home. After Lincoln is assassinated, the families move to closer locations, further encouraging the relationships between Phil, Margaret, Ben, and Elsie. There is a man named Silas Lynch who is a Southern black supremacist who also has plans for the future of America. Mr. Stoneman assumes a more powerful role in the government, and the families try to hold down their regular lives with who remains of their family from the war. In the second half of the highly controversial film, the Reconstruction era is displayed as blacks tryingto constantly instill fear into the whites. While the two romances try to reblossom, memories of the war precent Margaret from being able to speak to Phil. Gus, a renegade black soldier, spies on Ben and Elsie as they reconvene their love. Eventually, after a horrific image of a terrifying Election Day, Ben finds it in him to rebel, after seeing black children scare white children by jumping out from under white sheets, pretending to be ghosts. Thus, the Ku Klux Klan was born. Women make thousands of uniforms in secret. Men prepare to join and fight. Ben's involvement breaks Elsie's heart, but she stays with him and doesn't rat him out. Flora, the youngest Cameron, consoles Elsie and then goes out into the forest, only to be caught by Gus, the black soldier, and offered marriage. It becomes a chase and she falls off of a cliff to her death, saying she would rather die than be touched by him. When Silas Lunch finds her body, the fight between the KKK and the black militia begins. When Elsie runs to Lynch for help, he tries to force her to marry him, saying he would make her the queen of his "black empire." Austin Stoneman, Elsie's father, then luckily interrupts and the Klan rescues the Stonemans trapped in the cabin amidst the bloody mess outside their windows. The movie closes with a scene of the black people in hell, shown worshipping Satan and burning. The white people and the Klanmembers are shown in the presence of Jesus and many angels, celebrating. That is the closing scene.
Obviously, the plot is a horrifying example of true racism. The man had a corrupted opinion that is obviously, and rightfully, unaccepted in today's American society and culture. The message behind his film is one that was unaccepted at the time, and began the fall of D.W. Griffith's career as director. That being said, technologically speaking, the man was a genius. His film was beyond the time period. Most films being made during this time were afraid to go past ten minutes, much less three hours! He developed an intricate plot that wove the stories of two families together, as if they were strings on a dreamcatcher, and each historical event is a bead, simply making a more complex and interesting plot. Each raised conflict was settled in a fitting way. Overall, the film was beyond it's time. While DW Griffith was known for his serious and more intense narrative films as compared to George Melies or Edwin Porter's magical, more fictional films, this was considered even beyond his expectations. The use of close-ups was much more prominent than films of that time and proved to be more effective emotionally. The iris shot, a thick vignette frame around the camera, was often used, and the fade to black technology was astounding, considering the smoothness on a filmstrip.
The sequel to this film, Intolerance, was much more expensive and production-wise, more incredible, which makes it all the more unfortunate that people didn't pay much attention to it. They wrote Griffith off after the original release of Birth of A Nation, and his efforts to repair his image proved futile with the three hour second release. However, like its prequel, it proved to be incredibly advanced. With text over image, narrating each story, it was a spectacle for a movie being made in 1916. The film showed four plots, a contemporary drama set in Paris, a drama about the Pharisees and Jesus, ancient Babylon, and the French Revolution. They all showed parallel meanings, considering how intolerance of anyone can affect a society and it's ecosystem. The intricate scenery, the dramatic acting, and the expensive costumes with massive cast and crew- all of it to essentially take back the harsh words put out with his breakthrough film. Unfortunately for him, he took his opportunity to climb high and failed.
By Emily Forschen
Questions about the films and D.W. Griffith:
1) If they can play music, why not have voices?
2) Why were they harsh, not caring at all toward the kids who fell off the wagon?
A: the kids were black, and D.W. Griffith is extremely racist.
3) The KKK were perceived as the “heroes” of the south, how were the northerners perceived?
A: They were shown as people against slavery and for black freedom.
4) The point of view shots were also iris shots, why was that?
A: To quite possibly make it more noticeable that it’s a point of view shot.
5) Why is the black rebellion against the KKK seen as the bad guys?
A: They were seen as the “bad guys”, because of how racist D.W. Griffith is.
6) What were the people at the end of “Birth of a Nation” doing in the cabin?
A: They were running away from the black rebellion and that’s where they hid.
7) Where the people in “Intolerance” actual Muslims, or where they white people dressed to look like Muslims?
8) “Birth of a Nation” showed D.W. in all of the word slides, where as “Intolerance” only showed his initials in selected slides, why is that?
9) Were the places actual places, or are they stages, like how a lot of movies are now-a-days?
10) Why were some scenes shot in black and white, where as others were shot with a selected color of film?
By Mitchel Cabrera
1) If they can play music, why not have voices?
2) Why were they harsh, not caring at all toward the kids who fell off the wagon?
A: the kids were black, and D.W. Griffith is extremely racist.
3) The KKK were perceived as the “heroes” of the south, how were the northerners perceived?
A: They were shown as people against slavery and for black freedom.
4) The point of view shots were also iris shots, why was that?
A: To quite possibly make it more noticeable that it’s a point of view shot.
5) Why is the black rebellion against the KKK seen as the bad guys?
A: They were seen as the “bad guys”, because of how racist D.W. Griffith is.
6) What were the people at the end of “Birth of a Nation” doing in the cabin?
A: They were running away from the black rebellion and that’s where they hid.
7) Where the people in “Intolerance” actual Muslims, or where they white people dressed to look like Muslims?
8) “Birth of a Nation” showed D.W. in all of the word slides, where as “Intolerance” only showed his initials in selected slides, why is that?
9) Were the places actual places, or are they stages, like how a lot of movies are now-a-days?
10) Why were some scenes shot in black and white, where as others were shot with a selected color of film?
By Mitchel Cabrera
Russian Montage: Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929) and The Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925)
Film Review:
Man with the Movie Camera directed by Dziga Vertov in 1929 is a silent film/ documentary about life in Moscow, Russia in the 1920’s, and is one of the most distinct films of its time. Seeing as Vertov literally went around recorded life without any theatrical elements, the film has a very strong sense of realism. Also, the variety of camera techniques and fast paced progression led to a very effective portrayal of the city of Moscow on an average day. Even though it was a silent film, Vertov needed no words to express that he was conveying that man is the driving force in modern day society and was showing the relations of man and machine. Another thing he did throughout his movie he showed 2 side to every form of life (ex. Marriage/divorce, youth/old age, work/recreation, clean/dirty). Overall, though the movie was a bit bewildering and hard to follow, Man with the Movie Camera exceeded my expectations.
Literary Element Analysis of point of view, character, and themes:
During the films Man with a Movie Camera and Battleship Potemkin, the audience feels a majority of emotions. There are many point of views in both of these films which makes it all so unique. In Man with a Movie Camera, there is a scene where the camera view is the back of a man with a movie camera who is filming a moving train on the same railroad track. This makes each member of the audience feel that the train is coming straight towards them which may cause a sense of adrenaline. As the man walks away with no scratch and definitely not deceased, it proves that there were camera tricks to trick the viewers.
In the film Battleship Potemkin, there's a sequence during the battle where a towns-lady was shot and killed by protecting her baby. That alone gives various audience members sensibility of anger and/or sadness. Yet when the baby carriage rolls down the steps and is physically in danger with no sense of protection at all, the viewers are definitely on the edge of their seat, curious if the child will live or not.
When it comes to characters, there is no protagonist in either of these films. I suppose you could call the camera man in Man with a Movie Camera the main character of that film, but the characters range from homeless children, men, or women sleeping on park benches and/or sidewalks. To wealthy upperclassmen with automobiles, pearls around their necks, and clean clothes covering their bodies. The camera man seems to take large risks just to catch a shot. He films a moving train from different angles, people sleeping on the streets which could have lead to some bad fights if they weren't such nice people, or he could've been sued for all he's worth.
Battleship Potemkin have many character ranges as well. There were soldiers out at the bay who were being praised and celebrated, the townspeople celebrating who were then later on getting into a bloody massacre by the enemy. The enemy was merciless to the townspeople, they did not care who or what they shot which caused the death of a young boy who was also trampled upon after being shot.
There are various themes throughout Man with a Movie Camera and Battleship Potemkin. In Man with a Movie Camera some themes are about the meaning of life and death, the excitement of marriage, the anger of divorce, and the birth of something new. With all of these topics, this just shows that the main theme of this film is that anything can be shot. That film can go everywhere and
anywhere.
The main theme of Battleship Potemkin is to not complain on what you're receiving, for if you do, the people that did give you goods might not be there when you get back. This comes from when the sailors are docking to get more goods and livestock from the townspeople. They complained about how there are maggots in some of the meat. Then later on, the innocent townspeople are being massacred by the Tsarist soldiers.
by Angelika Bumgarner
Literary Element Analysis of symbolism, story/structure/style, and mode/genre:
Man with a Movie Camera is a 1929 film directed by Dziga Vertov. The documentary is a montage of one day in an urban Russian city. It follows a camera man throughout the city, filming random places, things, and people. The film symbolizes daily life, including birth and death. The avant-garde film has no story, no structure, and no actors. The silent film is filled with editing, going from shot to shot quickly. The movie falls under the documentary and silent film genre.
In Man with a Movie Camera it follows a man throughout a Russian city with a camera filmming things and people in the city. The only "character" it has is the camera man. The film has no inter titles. The director made documentaries because he wanted to abolish all other non-documentary films. The whole documentary is a montage, mostly of people filmed using hidden cameras.
The movie is basically a film about film. It shows the camera man setting up a film to be played in a movie theater. The film also shows a woman editing film strips. Vertov uses the many shots to convey the film's theme.
by Ally Beardsley
Film Element Analysis of Image and Sound:
Man with a Movie Camera
In man with a movie camera it has set music going with the whole movie. There are different camera angles throughout the film showing different objects and buildings. In the movie the close-up shots showed more emotion and emphasis and the music throughout the film set different moods to different parts of the film. It seemed like it was random imaging but I think he picked certain places and objects to show meaning. In the film he was filming a common life of a person and most of the time was in the morning with people starting to wake up. He liked to show the sky and the clouds moving at certain points of the day. The type of music changed for the different settings and the faster the music the more intense of a scene. He would show cause and effect with different shots of objects. When changing the setting he would use an establishing shot to show was the new setting from a far off distance. He would use split-screen effect were he would show two different settings which wasn’t very common for that time period. Finally he showed the circle of life in his images which showed meaning to his images.
Battleship Potemkin
In Battleship Potemkin the quality of imaging wasn’t very good. Music matched the intensity of the people when running away. Lot of close ups of inured civilians and had shots of all the civilians and the soldiers approaching. He showed side views of the civilians running down the steps and close ups of the soldiers shooting the rifles. Showed a lot of emotion with the mom seeing the kid getting shot and the closer it got to her face the more emotion was shown. Through that scene it played high tempo music because of all the action. The close-ups showed how scared the civilians were when hiding from the soldiers when they were coming down the steps. Based off images it seemed like it was less advanced than Man with a Movie Camera. I think that this film tried to show a lot of emotion because of the type of movie.
by Anthony Rizo
Film Elements Analysis of Mise-en-Scene, Cinematography, and Editing:
The Man With A Movie Camera is about a man with a camera who films people doing their daily lives. Dziga Vertov used two cameras and mixed them together which made new types of images. He mixed some illusions in with his movies and used some cinematic techniques. He took the risk of losing a camera by placing the camera under a train capturing the image of a moving train from below. Dziga Vertov took many risks making this movie he went on top of bridge to capture trolley, cars, and people moving from an over head view. Dziga Vertov used himself standing on top of a large camera while holding the same camera in his arms. The cities where the people lived is where the movie is filmed, on the street and in the houses. This documentary was filmed over a three year period on location in Moscow, Kiev and Odessa. Even though this movie had no story just watching ordinary people in their everyday lives formed a story. This movie has become the 8th greatest movie of history.
Battleship Potemkin is about crew members of the Potemkin staged a mutiny that occurred in 1905. The film was shot on the Odessa Steps in Russia. Sergei Eisenstein captured the image of people running in fear for their lives as the soldiers killed women, children, and men. The soldiers raged though the town showing no mercy. The boots of the Tsarist soldiers marching down the Odessa steps introduced montages and film editing to the film industry. Several shots of the victims were an older woman wearing a pince-nez, a young boy with his mother who get shot, a student in a uniform gets shot. There is even a scene where a mother is pushing her baby in a carriage falling down and dying leaving the baby carriage to go flying down the steps and flipping over. Sergei Eisenstein made you feel as if you were there as people where running for their lives giving suspense. It was released on December 21st 1925 in Russia and on December 5th 1926 in the USA only. Even though this massacre never happened on the Odessa Steps Eisenstein did the scene so well people often refer to it as if it actually happened. Battleship Potemkin was named the greatest film of all time at the Brussels World Fair in 1905.
by Joseph Lorusso
Movie Comparison
“Man with a Movie Camera” and “The Battleship Potemkin” are two early 20th century Russian films. The first directed by Dziga Vertov, and the other directed by Sergei Eisenstein. When compared to each other, these two films were both very successful in putting Russia on the map when it comes to the film industry, which began to arise around twenty-five years previous. Both films were very innovative, in that they both revolutionized the meaning of the film itself and the possibilities of a successful film with no story present.
“The Battleship Potemkin” will be the first film to be analyzed. With an exciting story and a clever director with many innovative ideas, “The Battleship Potemkin amazed many viewers, and proved that real life events, such as depicted in the film, can be retold while being dramatic and entertaining for those lucky to see it, while still being historical and staying true to the real-life event. When the film was initially released in 1925 in Russia (USSR), it was recognized as a very influential propaganda film. Releasing overseas as well as in Russia also helped push toward the film’s success.
With the film’s most successful sequence being the “Odessa Steps”, Eisenstein took advantage of the opportunity to portray a violent seen which included new concepts of film editing, and film montage. Even though the “Odessa Steps” scene never actually occurred in real life, Eisenstein designed the scene and perfected it in a way that would assist in helping demonize the Imperial regime.
Obviously, this film should be compared to other films that followed which included scenes with horrific events. For example, “Schindler’s List” was a very influential film that portrayed an evil regime that attempted to destroy the lives of millions of innocent people. It was also another film that was meant to demonize a regime, even though in this case it was the Nazi regime instead of the Tsar regime.
“Man with a Movie Camera” is a different story. Even though it shared the same success as “The Battleship Potemkin”, it was recognized for different reasons. “Man with a Movie Camera” revolutionized the film industry in a such a way that it proved a film can be successful without a direct storyline or any actors/ actresses to back it up. The film introduced montage in a whole new way, in that it was basically an hour-long montage itself! “Man with a Movie Camera” can be compared to many documentary-like films, coming off the fact that the film’s director, Dziga Vertov, was a documentary-based director previous to this film.
The film includes shots of cities including Odessa, Kharkiv, and Kiev. The film is famous for introducing, or expanding on, the ideas of double exposure, fast motion, slow motion, freeze frames, jump cuts, split screens, Dutch angles, extreme close-ups, tracking shots, footage played backwards, stop motion animations, and a self-reflexive style. Releasing in 1929, the film revolutionized the possibilities of a story, and experimentations with new shots, angles, and other innovative ideas.
Both “The Battleship Potemkin” and “Man with a Movie Camera” revolutionized the film industry and world by introducing the possibilities of a story and real-life reenactments or scenarios. Both films succeeded in putting Russia on the map in the industry as a very talented country. Both films have also impacted films today, and will continue to be innovative. “Man with a Movie Camera” and ”The Battleship Potemkin” will never be forgotten, and will always continue to impact many generations of films to come…..
by Kyle Filter
Man With a the Movie Camera questions:
1.) What is the very first scene in the movie?
2.) What time of day do u think it is when it first shows the city?
3.) What happens when the busses are brought out?
4.) What is one of the metaphors they had in the movie?
5.) What do they show after the scene of the two people filling out a marriage form?
The Battleship Potemkin questions:
6.) What revolution takes place on this movie?
7.) What suddenly scares everyone when they are on the stairs?
8.) What happens to the little boy after he gets shot?
9.) What do the Cossacks do when the lady walks up to them with the shot little boy?
10.) What happens to the old lady when she is watching the baby in the baby carrier roll down the stairs?
by Harrison Difuntorum
Man with the Movie Camera directed by Dziga Vertov in 1929 is a silent film/ documentary about life in Moscow, Russia in the 1920’s, and is one of the most distinct films of its time. Seeing as Vertov literally went around recorded life without any theatrical elements, the film has a very strong sense of realism. Also, the variety of camera techniques and fast paced progression led to a very effective portrayal of the city of Moscow on an average day. Even though it was a silent film, Vertov needed no words to express that he was conveying that man is the driving force in modern day society and was showing the relations of man and machine. Another thing he did throughout his movie he showed 2 side to every form of life (ex. Marriage/divorce, youth/old age, work/recreation, clean/dirty). Overall, though the movie was a bit bewildering and hard to follow, Man with the Movie Camera exceeded my expectations.
Literary Element Analysis of point of view, character, and themes:
During the films Man with a Movie Camera and Battleship Potemkin, the audience feels a majority of emotions. There are many point of views in both of these films which makes it all so unique. In Man with a Movie Camera, there is a scene where the camera view is the back of a man with a movie camera who is filming a moving train on the same railroad track. This makes each member of the audience feel that the train is coming straight towards them which may cause a sense of adrenaline. As the man walks away with no scratch and definitely not deceased, it proves that there were camera tricks to trick the viewers.
In the film Battleship Potemkin, there's a sequence during the battle where a towns-lady was shot and killed by protecting her baby. That alone gives various audience members sensibility of anger and/or sadness. Yet when the baby carriage rolls down the steps and is physically in danger with no sense of protection at all, the viewers are definitely on the edge of their seat, curious if the child will live or not.
When it comes to characters, there is no protagonist in either of these films. I suppose you could call the camera man in Man with a Movie Camera the main character of that film, but the characters range from homeless children, men, or women sleeping on park benches and/or sidewalks. To wealthy upperclassmen with automobiles, pearls around their necks, and clean clothes covering their bodies. The camera man seems to take large risks just to catch a shot. He films a moving train from different angles, people sleeping on the streets which could have lead to some bad fights if they weren't such nice people, or he could've been sued for all he's worth.
Battleship Potemkin have many character ranges as well. There were soldiers out at the bay who were being praised and celebrated, the townspeople celebrating who were then later on getting into a bloody massacre by the enemy. The enemy was merciless to the townspeople, they did not care who or what they shot which caused the death of a young boy who was also trampled upon after being shot.
There are various themes throughout Man with a Movie Camera and Battleship Potemkin. In Man with a Movie Camera some themes are about the meaning of life and death, the excitement of marriage, the anger of divorce, and the birth of something new. With all of these topics, this just shows that the main theme of this film is that anything can be shot. That film can go everywhere and
anywhere.
The main theme of Battleship Potemkin is to not complain on what you're receiving, for if you do, the people that did give you goods might not be there when you get back. This comes from when the sailors are docking to get more goods and livestock from the townspeople. They complained about how there are maggots in some of the meat. Then later on, the innocent townspeople are being massacred by the Tsarist soldiers.
by Angelika Bumgarner
Literary Element Analysis of symbolism, story/structure/style, and mode/genre:
Man with a Movie Camera is a 1929 film directed by Dziga Vertov. The documentary is a montage of one day in an urban Russian city. It follows a camera man throughout the city, filming random places, things, and people. The film symbolizes daily life, including birth and death. The avant-garde film has no story, no structure, and no actors. The silent film is filled with editing, going from shot to shot quickly. The movie falls under the documentary and silent film genre.
In Man with a Movie Camera it follows a man throughout a Russian city with a camera filmming things and people in the city. The only "character" it has is the camera man. The film has no inter titles. The director made documentaries because he wanted to abolish all other non-documentary films. The whole documentary is a montage, mostly of people filmed using hidden cameras.
The movie is basically a film about film. It shows the camera man setting up a film to be played in a movie theater. The film also shows a woman editing film strips. Vertov uses the many shots to convey the film's theme.
by Ally Beardsley
Film Element Analysis of Image and Sound:
Man with a Movie Camera
In man with a movie camera it has set music going with the whole movie. There are different camera angles throughout the film showing different objects and buildings. In the movie the close-up shots showed more emotion and emphasis and the music throughout the film set different moods to different parts of the film. It seemed like it was random imaging but I think he picked certain places and objects to show meaning. In the film he was filming a common life of a person and most of the time was in the morning with people starting to wake up. He liked to show the sky and the clouds moving at certain points of the day. The type of music changed for the different settings and the faster the music the more intense of a scene. He would show cause and effect with different shots of objects. When changing the setting he would use an establishing shot to show was the new setting from a far off distance. He would use split-screen effect were he would show two different settings which wasn’t very common for that time period. Finally he showed the circle of life in his images which showed meaning to his images.
Battleship Potemkin
In Battleship Potemkin the quality of imaging wasn’t very good. Music matched the intensity of the people when running away. Lot of close ups of inured civilians and had shots of all the civilians and the soldiers approaching. He showed side views of the civilians running down the steps and close ups of the soldiers shooting the rifles. Showed a lot of emotion with the mom seeing the kid getting shot and the closer it got to her face the more emotion was shown. Through that scene it played high tempo music because of all the action. The close-ups showed how scared the civilians were when hiding from the soldiers when they were coming down the steps. Based off images it seemed like it was less advanced than Man with a Movie Camera. I think that this film tried to show a lot of emotion because of the type of movie.
by Anthony Rizo
Film Elements Analysis of Mise-en-Scene, Cinematography, and Editing:
The Man With A Movie Camera is about a man with a camera who films people doing their daily lives. Dziga Vertov used two cameras and mixed them together which made new types of images. He mixed some illusions in with his movies and used some cinematic techniques. He took the risk of losing a camera by placing the camera under a train capturing the image of a moving train from below. Dziga Vertov took many risks making this movie he went on top of bridge to capture trolley, cars, and people moving from an over head view. Dziga Vertov used himself standing on top of a large camera while holding the same camera in his arms. The cities where the people lived is where the movie is filmed, on the street and in the houses. This documentary was filmed over a three year period on location in Moscow, Kiev and Odessa. Even though this movie had no story just watching ordinary people in their everyday lives formed a story. This movie has become the 8th greatest movie of history.
Battleship Potemkin is about crew members of the Potemkin staged a mutiny that occurred in 1905. The film was shot on the Odessa Steps in Russia. Sergei Eisenstein captured the image of people running in fear for their lives as the soldiers killed women, children, and men. The soldiers raged though the town showing no mercy. The boots of the Tsarist soldiers marching down the Odessa steps introduced montages and film editing to the film industry. Several shots of the victims were an older woman wearing a pince-nez, a young boy with his mother who get shot, a student in a uniform gets shot. There is even a scene where a mother is pushing her baby in a carriage falling down and dying leaving the baby carriage to go flying down the steps and flipping over. Sergei Eisenstein made you feel as if you were there as people where running for their lives giving suspense. It was released on December 21st 1925 in Russia and on December 5th 1926 in the USA only. Even though this massacre never happened on the Odessa Steps Eisenstein did the scene so well people often refer to it as if it actually happened. Battleship Potemkin was named the greatest film of all time at the Brussels World Fair in 1905.
by Joseph Lorusso
Movie Comparison
“Man with a Movie Camera” and “The Battleship Potemkin” are two early 20th century Russian films. The first directed by Dziga Vertov, and the other directed by Sergei Eisenstein. When compared to each other, these two films were both very successful in putting Russia on the map when it comes to the film industry, which began to arise around twenty-five years previous. Both films were very innovative, in that they both revolutionized the meaning of the film itself and the possibilities of a successful film with no story present.
“The Battleship Potemkin” will be the first film to be analyzed. With an exciting story and a clever director with many innovative ideas, “The Battleship Potemkin amazed many viewers, and proved that real life events, such as depicted in the film, can be retold while being dramatic and entertaining for those lucky to see it, while still being historical and staying true to the real-life event. When the film was initially released in 1925 in Russia (USSR), it was recognized as a very influential propaganda film. Releasing overseas as well as in Russia also helped push toward the film’s success.
With the film’s most successful sequence being the “Odessa Steps”, Eisenstein took advantage of the opportunity to portray a violent seen which included new concepts of film editing, and film montage. Even though the “Odessa Steps” scene never actually occurred in real life, Eisenstein designed the scene and perfected it in a way that would assist in helping demonize the Imperial regime.
Obviously, this film should be compared to other films that followed which included scenes with horrific events. For example, “Schindler’s List” was a very influential film that portrayed an evil regime that attempted to destroy the lives of millions of innocent people. It was also another film that was meant to demonize a regime, even though in this case it was the Nazi regime instead of the Tsar regime.
“Man with a Movie Camera” is a different story. Even though it shared the same success as “The Battleship Potemkin”, it was recognized for different reasons. “Man with a Movie Camera” revolutionized the film industry in a such a way that it proved a film can be successful without a direct storyline or any actors/ actresses to back it up. The film introduced montage in a whole new way, in that it was basically an hour-long montage itself! “Man with a Movie Camera” can be compared to many documentary-like films, coming off the fact that the film’s director, Dziga Vertov, was a documentary-based director previous to this film.
The film includes shots of cities including Odessa, Kharkiv, and Kiev. The film is famous for introducing, or expanding on, the ideas of double exposure, fast motion, slow motion, freeze frames, jump cuts, split screens, Dutch angles, extreme close-ups, tracking shots, footage played backwards, stop motion animations, and a self-reflexive style. Releasing in 1929, the film revolutionized the possibilities of a story, and experimentations with new shots, angles, and other innovative ideas.
Both “The Battleship Potemkin” and “Man with a Movie Camera” revolutionized the film industry and world by introducing the possibilities of a story and real-life reenactments or scenarios. Both films succeeded in putting Russia on the map in the industry as a very talented country. Both films have also impacted films today, and will continue to be innovative. “Man with a Movie Camera” and ”The Battleship Potemkin” will never be forgotten, and will always continue to impact many generations of films to come…..
by Kyle Filter
Man With a the Movie Camera questions:
1.) What is the very first scene in the movie?
2.) What time of day do u think it is when it first shows the city?
3.) What happens when the busses are brought out?
4.) What is one of the metaphors they had in the movie?
5.) What do they show after the scene of the two people filling out a marriage form?
The Battleship Potemkin questions:
6.) What revolution takes place on this movie?
7.) What suddenly scares everyone when they are on the stairs?
8.) What happens to the little boy after he gets shot?
9.) What do the Cossacks do when the lady walks up to them with the shot little boy?
10.) What happens to the old lady when she is watching the baby in the baby carrier roll down the stairs?
by Harrison Difuntorum
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920)
Summary
The movie starts off with Francis and an old man sitting down watching Francis’s fiancé walk by them and then he narrates a story of him meeting a strange man named Dr.Caligari. When he starts telling the story, it takes place in a town called Holstenwall. Dr.Caligari appears on the screen, he’s a strange looking old man. Francis’s friend Alan comes up to Francis telling him to go to the fair. It cuts back to Dr.Caligari trying to get a permit to put up a show in the fair. When the fair started it shows Dr Caligari showing people drawing of a guy who is a somnambulist named Cesare. Mysterious murders begin to happen in the town and they don’t know you did it. At the fair, Dr Caligari is leading people into a room where he shows Cesare the somnambulist inside of a coffin sleeping. He wakes him up and Francis’s friend Alan asks Cesare when he will die and Cesare answered to him you will die at dawn. The next day the y finds Alan dead. The police began searching for the murderer and find a guy running away with a knife; they catch him and find out that he wasn’t the one who killed Alan. They go to Dr. Caligari to ask him questions then when they leave Dr. Caligari orders Cesare to kill Jane. Cesare tries to kill her but then stops and kidnaps her and then Cesare collapses from exhaustion and dies. Jane tells them that it was Cesare who kidnapped her. They go to Caligari’s house and ask him to wake up Cesare but they open the coffin and it has fake Cesare in it. Francis goes to an asylum to ask if there was a patient names Caligari but finds out that the guy working there is Caligari and that there was a man named Caligari who did the same stuff ,a long time ago, as the Caligari in the movie. Dr. Caligari sees that Cesare is dead and goes insane. They put him in a straight jacket a put him in an asylum. It cuts back to the present where Francis is telling the story to an old man. He is showing the old man Cesare and tells him not to let him tell you prophesy or else you will die. Francis sees a man and says that he is Caligari and then Francis attacks Caligari. Francis gets put into a straight jacket and is put into an asylum. Then Dr. Caligari says that he knows how to cure Francis.
by Cameron Estrada
Film Element Analysis: Mise-en-Scene, Cinematography, and Editing
“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligiri” by Robert Wiene was edited with thorough perfection. After watching this classic first horror film you may think this was done so unorganized and also “look at these uneven paintings and setting, they make no sense and are just eerie”, but guess what… They were intentionally made so uneven to throw off the viewer and create this great ominous feeling of unreality and great unpredictability. Backdrops have one of the most obscene and manically beautiful artworks so extraordinarily conducted that a observant viewer would see to the beauty of its masterpiece. A horror movie so eerily painted and showed to show how creative the human mind is capable of conducting. Our mind is designed to see everything how we would expect it to be, Even if one thing is off a person will feel the uncomfortable feeling of scariness producing the ultimate scary movie. Movies of today have these perfect setting with every speck of dust in the place it should be, yet this film does the complete opposite of what a person will experience in every day situations.
This movie is obsolete and conducted through trickery of a camera and the intelligence of stage painters. The exceptionally minded Robert Wiene has created what has evolved a creation of genres of movies causing horror movies to revolutionize the horror film industry with its first revolutionary film keeping people hanging on their seats waiting to see what happens and spoiler alert BAM! Doctor Caligiri is actually, well lets just say there’s a twist, probably one of the first times a twist used.
This film uses great by capturing the true essence of a horror film. There are definitely conduit errors but they might have been conducted on purpose to through the viewers off. Overall the lighting and shadows are used almost too perfectly for its time.
by Mustafa Sarwar
The movie starts off with Francis and an old man sitting down watching Francis’s fiancé walk by them and then he narrates a story of him meeting a strange man named Dr.Caligari. When he starts telling the story, it takes place in a town called Holstenwall. Dr.Caligari appears on the screen, he’s a strange looking old man. Francis’s friend Alan comes up to Francis telling him to go to the fair. It cuts back to Dr.Caligari trying to get a permit to put up a show in the fair. When the fair started it shows Dr Caligari showing people drawing of a guy who is a somnambulist named Cesare. Mysterious murders begin to happen in the town and they don’t know you did it. At the fair, Dr Caligari is leading people into a room where he shows Cesare the somnambulist inside of a coffin sleeping. He wakes him up and Francis’s friend Alan asks Cesare when he will die and Cesare answered to him you will die at dawn. The next day the y finds Alan dead. The police began searching for the murderer and find a guy running away with a knife; they catch him and find out that he wasn’t the one who killed Alan. They go to Dr. Caligari to ask him questions then when they leave Dr. Caligari orders Cesare to kill Jane. Cesare tries to kill her but then stops and kidnaps her and then Cesare collapses from exhaustion and dies. Jane tells them that it was Cesare who kidnapped her. They go to Caligari’s house and ask him to wake up Cesare but they open the coffin and it has fake Cesare in it. Francis goes to an asylum to ask if there was a patient names Caligari but finds out that the guy working there is Caligari and that there was a man named Caligari who did the same stuff ,a long time ago, as the Caligari in the movie. Dr. Caligari sees that Cesare is dead and goes insane. They put him in a straight jacket a put him in an asylum. It cuts back to the present where Francis is telling the story to an old man. He is showing the old man Cesare and tells him not to let him tell you prophesy or else you will die. Francis sees a man and says that he is Caligari and then Francis attacks Caligari. Francis gets put into a straight jacket and is put into an asylum. Then Dr. Caligari says that he knows how to cure Francis.
by Cameron Estrada
Film Element Analysis: Mise-en-Scene, Cinematography, and Editing
“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligiri” by Robert Wiene was edited with thorough perfection. After watching this classic first horror film you may think this was done so unorganized and also “look at these uneven paintings and setting, they make no sense and are just eerie”, but guess what… They were intentionally made so uneven to throw off the viewer and create this great ominous feeling of unreality and great unpredictability. Backdrops have one of the most obscene and manically beautiful artworks so extraordinarily conducted that a observant viewer would see to the beauty of its masterpiece. A horror movie so eerily painted and showed to show how creative the human mind is capable of conducting. Our mind is designed to see everything how we would expect it to be, Even if one thing is off a person will feel the uncomfortable feeling of scariness producing the ultimate scary movie. Movies of today have these perfect setting with every speck of dust in the place it should be, yet this film does the complete opposite of what a person will experience in every day situations.
This movie is obsolete and conducted through trickery of a camera and the intelligence of stage painters. The exceptionally minded Robert Wiene has created what has evolved a creation of genres of movies causing horror movies to revolutionize the horror film industry with its first revolutionary film keeping people hanging on their seats waiting to see what happens and spoiler alert BAM! Doctor Caligiri is actually, well lets just say there’s a twist, probably one of the first times a twist used.
This film uses great by capturing the true essence of a horror film. There are definitely conduit errors but they might have been conducted on purpose to through the viewers off. Overall the lighting and shadows are used almost too perfectly for its time.
by Mustafa Sarwar
Literary Elements: Point of View, Character, and Theme
The point of view in “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” can be described to be in third person narrative. The perspective is as if the audience was a bystander to all that is occurring, simply observing what is going on. A very prominent characteristic of this film in terms of perspective is the many close-ups on their faces as the characters ooze out emotions through their overly dramatic acting. For example, there is a long close-up on Cesare’s face when he first opens his eyes. During that close up there, the moroseness from his dead-like facial features is very evident and definitely has been intended to give the audience a few chills.
Francis is the main character of the film. Throughout the film, he seems like a very average protagonist, who happens to have a very pale face with dark eye makeup. Dr. Caligari and Cesare the somnambulist take away Alan, and almost Jane; these two events which reveal that Francis is actually a typical tragic hero: a good man with bad luck and a self-destructing characteristic. In this case, his self-destructive characteristic would be his rage toward Dr. Caligari or the shocking fact that Francis is insane. Dr. Caligari is an important character in the film as well. He is depicted as a creepy, round, sinister-looking man, similar to the Penguin from Batman. Dr. Caligari has very unique face make-up in the film, which highly accentuates his deep wrinkles. This eerie appearance he has further accentuates his evil and insane personality. Now, the Dr. Caligari as the director is different—he does not have such a pale face with wrinkles, making him appear much more normal and personable. This transformation shows his multifaceted character—good as a director perhaps, but evil in the eyes of the asylum patients. Cesare, the somnambulist controlled by Dr. Caligari, has a very creepy and disturbing look as well. He is depicted as grimy looking, hollowed face with deep-set eyes accentuated by black eye makeup. The look and his slow-moving actions make him seem un-human and more like a monster. In addition, he was never depicted to have a strong personality either. Furthermore, the trend of makeup is important because of the fact that Dr. Caligari as the director is the only one with less of a pale face. The pale face has come to symbolize everyone’s insanity—real or imaginary.
The theme is quite unique to the film: Reality is not definite. This theme is revealed only at the end, when Francis turned out to simply be a patient at Dr. Caligari’s asylum, tricking the audience. Also, taking in WW1's historical context into perspective, Caligari can easily represent the corrupted government controlling the helpless Cesare, who represents the soldiers ordered to kill. But that also is relevant to the fact that the world we live in is not completely honest or real.
by Michelle Yang
Literary Elements: Symbolism, Story Structure, and Genre
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was made during a time in Germany when artists were trying to express a lot of ideas through their work, because of this the film has a fair amount of symbolism. One of the most prominent symbols in the movie is the clear criticism of the government. Throughout the movie whenever we see government officials in their office they are sitting on chairs that are raised higher than normal to show the power that the government possessed allowing them to elevate themselves over the common people. In addition, the government’s role in World War I is also criticized in the movie through the character of Casare. Throughout the movie he is controlled by Dr. Caligari and sent to kill people that Caligari wanted dead, however Casare was unaware of what he was doing and was being mind controlled. This is supposed to be a comparison of the German government sending troops against their will to kill for them.
In terms of story The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is extremely advanced for its time and helped pave the way for generations of movies to come. The story starts off with a situation that seems normal to the viewer, we see two men sitting on a bench while one starts to tell a story. We go through a better part of the movie in this story and see what Francis is talking about. When he finishes the story we do not question it because we do not have a reason to. That is until we come back to present day and see that Francis is a patient in a mental hospital. By using a structure that gives credibility to the storyteller early on the audience believes what they are being told and that allows them to immerse themselves into the world they see on screen no matter how obscure it looks.
When the film was made the horror genre was still in its early stages and was still looking for its definition, the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was able to add to this definition. While the movie does not make you jump out of your seat like we imagine most modern day horror movies do, it does create that sense of being uncomfortable and paranoid. The movie feeds on the unknown such as magic and mystery to create an atmosphere that is always making you question what is really going on. By being unsure of the situation people become paranoid which creates this sense of fear that is considered a characteristic of the genre that this filmed help define.
by Ryan Thompson
Film Comparison
The movie I am comparing to the horror classic the cabinet of Dr. Caligari is what I believe to be its modern day counterpart Shutter Island. Both movies are strikingly similar they both have dark undertones, murder and insanity embodied into their stories. The cabinet of Dr. Caligari starts off with Francis and his horrify accounts of strange murders that happened in the remote German town that he lived in. He tells the stories of how an evil man named Dr. Caligari used his servant Cesare to murder and wreak havoc upon the town. As the story develops it soon becomes apparent that the tale is actually that of a mad man. Who has created the story of fiction from his delusional mind and that the characters are actually fellow inmates except that of Dr. Caligari how is in fact actually the asylum director and has listened to the tale to finally discover the source of Francis’s delusions so he can treat them. The story is shockily similar to that of Shutter Island. It starts with a detective named Teddy who is haunted by the death of his wife and war time experiences. He then proceeds to investigate the recent disappearance of an inmate at the local asylum, Shutter Island Hospital for the Criminally Insane. The story unfolds and Teddy believes that there is a conspiracy between the staff and that they are actually creating military projects and forcing patients into horrible experiments. But soon we are confronted with truth that teddy is in fact an inmate at the asylum who has been driven insane by death of his children at his wife’s hands. And that the entire experience has been fabricated by the staff to shock him out of his delusional reality and finally cure him, which in the end does not work. Both movies are incredible psychological thriller and are very similar in theme and story. But the most interesting question is that the movies pose which is that of “Were these men truly insane or were the circumstances they were put in caused them to become insane?” We will truly never know.
The movie I am comparing to the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is Spider Man 1 and 2. I believe that both movies are really similar due to the main villains. The main villain in the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is Dr. Caligari who is an evil man and uses servants to do his work. Just like the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. Both Spiderman villains are masterminds and use many different ways to achieve their evil plans just like that of Dr. Caligari.
by Chris Emmett and Dillon Nguyen
Questions:
1) Who is Dr. Caligari ?
2) what is Dr. caligari doing at the government building?
3) What is in Dr. caligaris cabinet ?
4) Who is narrating the movie ?
5) Is doctor caligari the one who is killing people ?
6) What symbol in the movie states that the government is on top?
7) Who is the one killing everybody ?
8) What motivated Ceaser to kill people ?
9) What was the main message in the movie ?
10) Why did doctor caligari do all that ?
Answers
1) a man who controlled a somnambulist to kill.
2) applying for a permit to set up a booth at the local fair.
3) Ceaser, a sleeping somnambulist .
4) Francis
5) No it doesn’t say
6) The clerk sitting on the high chair
7) Ceaser is the one killing everybody
8) Caligari was controlling him ,he had no choice
9) That the government was being to harsh
10) He wanted to be like the original Dr.caligari he had read about
by Robert Giles
The point of view in “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” can be described to be in third person narrative. The perspective is as if the audience was a bystander to all that is occurring, simply observing what is going on. A very prominent characteristic of this film in terms of perspective is the many close-ups on their faces as the characters ooze out emotions through their overly dramatic acting. For example, there is a long close-up on Cesare’s face when he first opens his eyes. During that close up there, the moroseness from his dead-like facial features is very evident and definitely has been intended to give the audience a few chills.
Francis is the main character of the film. Throughout the film, he seems like a very average protagonist, who happens to have a very pale face with dark eye makeup. Dr. Caligari and Cesare the somnambulist take away Alan, and almost Jane; these two events which reveal that Francis is actually a typical tragic hero: a good man with bad luck and a self-destructing characteristic. In this case, his self-destructive characteristic would be his rage toward Dr. Caligari or the shocking fact that Francis is insane. Dr. Caligari is an important character in the film as well. He is depicted as a creepy, round, sinister-looking man, similar to the Penguin from Batman. Dr. Caligari has very unique face make-up in the film, which highly accentuates his deep wrinkles. This eerie appearance he has further accentuates his evil and insane personality. Now, the Dr. Caligari as the director is different—he does not have such a pale face with wrinkles, making him appear much more normal and personable. This transformation shows his multifaceted character—good as a director perhaps, but evil in the eyes of the asylum patients. Cesare, the somnambulist controlled by Dr. Caligari, has a very creepy and disturbing look as well. He is depicted as grimy looking, hollowed face with deep-set eyes accentuated by black eye makeup. The look and his slow-moving actions make him seem un-human and more like a monster. In addition, he was never depicted to have a strong personality either. Furthermore, the trend of makeup is important because of the fact that Dr. Caligari as the director is the only one with less of a pale face. The pale face has come to symbolize everyone’s insanity—real or imaginary.
The theme is quite unique to the film: Reality is not definite. This theme is revealed only at the end, when Francis turned out to simply be a patient at Dr. Caligari’s asylum, tricking the audience. Also, taking in WW1's historical context into perspective, Caligari can easily represent the corrupted government controlling the helpless Cesare, who represents the soldiers ordered to kill. But that also is relevant to the fact that the world we live in is not completely honest or real.
by Michelle Yang
Literary Elements: Symbolism, Story Structure, and Genre
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was made during a time in Germany when artists were trying to express a lot of ideas through their work, because of this the film has a fair amount of symbolism. One of the most prominent symbols in the movie is the clear criticism of the government. Throughout the movie whenever we see government officials in their office they are sitting on chairs that are raised higher than normal to show the power that the government possessed allowing them to elevate themselves over the common people. In addition, the government’s role in World War I is also criticized in the movie through the character of Casare. Throughout the movie he is controlled by Dr. Caligari and sent to kill people that Caligari wanted dead, however Casare was unaware of what he was doing and was being mind controlled. This is supposed to be a comparison of the German government sending troops against their will to kill for them.
In terms of story The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is extremely advanced for its time and helped pave the way for generations of movies to come. The story starts off with a situation that seems normal to the viewer, we see two men sitting on a bench while one starts to tell a story. We go through a better part of the movie in this story and see what Francis is talking about. When he finishes the story we do not question it because we do not have a reason to. That is until we come back to present day and see that Francis is a patient in a mental hospital. By using a structure that gives credibility to the storyteller early on the audience believes what they are being told and that allows them to immerse themselves into the world they see on screen no matter how obscure it looks.
When the film was made the horror genre was still in its early stages and was still looking for its definition, the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was able to add to this definition. While the movie does not make you jump out of your seat like we imagine most modern day horror movies do, it does create that sense of being uncomfortable and paranoid. The movie feeds on the unknown such as magic and mystery to create an atmosphere that is always making you question what is really going on. By being unsure of the situation people become paranoid which creates this sense of fear that is considered a characteristic of the genre that this filmed help define.
by Ryan Thompson
Film Comparison
The movie I am comparing to the horror classic the cabinet of Dr. Caligari is what I believe to be its modern day counterpart Shutter Island. Both movies are strikingly similar they both have dark undertones, murder and insanity embodied into their stories. The cabinet of Dr. Caligari starts off with Francis and his horrify accounts of strange murders that happened in the remote German town that he lived in. He tells the stories of how an evil man named Dr. Caligari used his servant Cesare to murder and wreak havoc upon the town. As the story develops it soon becomes apparent that the tale is actually that of a mad man. Who has created the story of fiction from his delusional mind and that the characters are actually fellow inmates except that of Dr. Caligari how is in fact actually the asylum director and has listened to the tale to finally discover the source of Francis’s delusions so he can treat them. The story is shockily similar to that of Shutter Island. It starts with a detective named Teddy who is haunted by the death of his wife and war time experiences. He then proceeds to investigate the recent disappearance of an inmate at the local asylum, Shutter Island Hospital for the Criminally Insane. The story unfolds and Teddy believes that there is a conspiracy between the staff and that they are actually creating military projects and forcing patients into horrible experiments. But soon we are confronted with truth that teddy is in fact an inmate at the asylum who has been driven insane by death of his children at his wife’s hands. And that the entire experience has been fabricated by the staff to shock him out of his delusional reality and finally cure him, which in the end does not work. Both movies are incredible psychological thriller and are very similar in theme and story. But the most interesting question is that the movies pose which is that of “Were these men truly insane or were the circumstances they were put in caused them to become insane?” We will truly never know.
The movie I am comparing to the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is Spider Man 1 and 2. I believe that both movies are really similar due to the main villains. The main villain in the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is Dr. Caligari who is an evil man and uses servants to do his work. Just like the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. Both Spiderman villains are masterminds and use many different ways to achieve their evil plans just like that of Dr. Caligari.
by Chris Emmett and Dillon Nguyen
Questions:
1) Who is Dr. Caligari ?
2) what is Dr. caligari doing at the government building?
3) What is in Dr. caligaris cabinet ?
4) Who is narrating the movie ?
5) Is doctor caligari the one who is killing people ?
6) What symbol in the movie states that the government is on top?
7) Who is the one killing everybody ?
8) What motivated Ceaser to kill people ?
9) What was the main message in the movie ?
10) Why did doctor caligari do all that ?
Answers
1) a man who controlled a somnambulist to kill.
2) applying for a permit to set up a booth at the local fair.
3) Ceaser, a sleeping somnambulist .
4) Francis
5) No it doesn’t say
6) The clerk sitting on the high chair
7) Ceaser is the one killing everybody
8) Caligari was controlling him ,he had no choice
9) That the government was being to harsh
10) He wanted to be like the original Dr.caligari he had read about
by Robert Giles
Our Hospitality (Buster Keaton, 1923)
Summary
Our Hospitality is a silent comedy directed by the famous and hilarious Buster Keaton, who is also one of the main characters. It is a hysterical movie full of suspenseful and ironic situations. The movie revolves around the never ending family feud against the Canfield’s & the McKay’s .The movie’s opening scene is the inside of an old cabin, which shows a rainy stormy night outside the window, then switches to a mother with a baby and husband in the room (the McKay’s). The husband leaves to engage in the family feud, which includes gunshot and someone getting injured. The next day Mrs. McKay takes Willie, her baby boy and herself to move in with her sister in New York in order to escape for everlasting hostility with the families.
Then the movie fast forwards 20 years, where we find out that Willie has been raised by his aunt due to his mother passing away. Willie receives a letter that tells him to come “claim position of the property of John McKay (his father)”. Before he goes his aunt informs him of the feud, and as he boards the train she tells him to keep their promise and not go near the Canfield’s. A young lady sits next to him in the extremely small carriage of the train, which we later find out to be Virginia Canfield! The first glimpse of comedy we experience in this movie is when Willie finally gets his top hat on with a tremendous struggle in the microscopic size carriage, and seconds later the train hits a bump and the hat squishes down on his face, along with dog following the train. The whole train ride was very comedic; for example the train’s conductor is to busying eating his lunch that the entire train ends up completely off the track, as well as the back wheels popping off the last carriage and the old man sleeping on top falling off, and the wheel knocking both the old man and Willie over. And lastly the cows blocking the tunnel and everyone on the train coming out with completely black faces covered in smoke.
When the train finally makes a chaotic entrance into town, Virginia invites him to go have dinner at her house, neither of them knowing what chaos is about to unfold. Willie politely asks a young, tall well-dressed man if he knew where the McKay residence was, he agrees to walk him, after some small talk we find out the man is one of Canfield brothers and he finds out that the man he’s walking is a McKay! Let the games begin, while walking the Canfield brother stops at every door and asks franticly if they have a pistol he can use, while Willies outside total oblivious as to what’s happening. Another humorous scene was when Willie “heroically” goes to stop a man from hitting and chocking his wife, and ends up getting hit by wife, who lets the husband continue on hitting her. Good job Willie does so, because at the exact moment when he walked away from that peculiar situation, Canfield was ready pistol in hand to shot him. Willie wanders along and finds the estate he’s come all this way for, a rundown, falling to pieces cabin, at that moment he envisions a gigantic mansion blowing up. Just like his hopes and dreams of what he thought he was inheriting.
So many ironic situations happen throughout this movie also, like when Willie helps a man shot his gun, no knowing that was one of the two Canfield brothers, and that bullet was intended for him. When he finally goes to dinner at Virginias house he over hears her brothers talking about how their farther won’t let them kill him inside the house. Which Willie takes quit literally and pieces together what we’ve known. There a storm that night and he invites himself to stay ,(in the house, means he’s not dead). He does some childish but funny escape routes like running out one door and running in the other, with all three of the Canfield brother running around like baboons after him. But the funniest by far was when he dressed up as a women and waltzes out the house no problem, but the back was up exposing his suite pants, the canfield once again run after .Willie steals a horse then attaches the dress and his umbrella to it backside, which actually resembled a person until the horse turns.
Along with the irony and comedy, there is a very suspenseful cliff and river scene. Virginia goes to save Willie who is drifting down the river, in a twist of events he ends up saving her. He swings from a rope tied to a flimsy log on the edge of a waterfall, and catches her mid fall. When the Canfields call it day on the search, they walk in on Willie and Virginia kissing, then the camera slowly turn to the old man in the corner standing with a book open in his hand. He then turns to her father and says, won’t you congratulate the bride, they have just wed and Willie is no long a McKay, the never ending feud has officially ended. The last few moments of the movie were by far the best; the Canfields are accepting, and place their guns down on the table as a sign of that, Willie puts down not one put 12 …and one in his sock on the table, and the sign which appeared in the opening scene “Love thy neighbor as thyself” was shown once again..
by Sarah Emmett
Our Hospitality is a silent comedy directed by the famous and hilarious Buster Keaton, who is also one of the main characters. It is a hysterical movie full of suspenseful and ironic situations. The movie revolves around the never ending family feud against the Canfield’s & the McKay’s .The movie’s opening scene is the inside of an old cabin, which shows a rainy stormy night outside the window, then switches to a mother with a baby and husband in the room (the McKay’s). The husband leaves to engage in the family feud, which includes gunshot and someone getting injured. The next day Mrs. McKay takes Willie, her baby boy and herself to move in with her sister in New York in order to escape for everlasting hostility with the families.
Then the movie fast forwards 20 years, where we find out that Willie has been raised by his aunt due to his mother passing away. Willie receives a letter that tells him to come “claim position of the property of John McKay (his father)”. Before he goes his aunt informs him of the feud, and as he boards the train she tells him to keep their promise and not go near the Canfield’s. A young lady sits next to him in the extremely small carriage of the train, which we later find out to be Virginia Canfield! The first glimpse of comedy we experience in this movie is when Willie finally gets his top hat on with a tremendous struggle in the microscopic size carriage, and seconds later the train hits a bump and the hat squishes down on his face, along with dog following the train. The whole train ride was very comedic; for example the train’s conductor is to busying eating his lunch that the entire train ends up completely off the track, as well as the back wheels popping off the last carriage and the old man sleeping on top falling off, and the wheel knocking both the old man and Willie over. And lastly the cows blocking the tunnel and everyone on the train coming out with completely black faces covered in smoke.
When the train finally makes a chaotic entrance into town, Virginia invites him to go have dinner at her house, neither of them knowing what chaos is about to unfold. Willie politely asks a young, tall well-dressed man if he knew where the McKay residence was, he agrees to walk him, after some small talk we find out the man is one of Canfield brothers and he finds out that the man he’s walking is a McKay! Let the games begin, while walking the Canfield brother stops at every door and asks franticly if they have a pistol he can use, while Willies outside total oblivious as to what’s happening. Another humorous scene was when Willie “heroically” goes to stop a man from hitting and chocking his wife, and ends up getting hit by wife, who lets the husband continue on hitting her. Good job Willie does so, because at the exact moment when he walked away from that peculiar situation, Canfield was ready pistol in hand to shot him. Willie wanders along and finds the estate he’s come all this way for, a rundown, falling to pieces cabin, at that moment he envisions a gigantic mansion blowing up. Just like his hopes and dreams of what he thought he was inheriting.
So many ironic situations happen throughout this movie also, like when Willie helps a man shot his gun, no knowing that was one of the two Canfield brothers, and that bullet was intended for him. When he finally goes to dinner at Virginias house he over hears her brothers talking about how their farther won’t let them kill him inside the house. Which Willie takes quit literally and pieces together what we’ve known. There a storm that night and he invites himself to stay ,(in the house, means he’s not dead). He does some childish but funny escape routes like running out one door and running in the other, with all three of the Canfield brother running around like baboons after him. But the funniest by far was when he dressed up as a women and waltzes out the house no problem, but the back was up exposing his suite pants, the canfield once again run after .Willie steals a horse then attaches the dress and his umbrella to it backside, which actually resembled a person until the horse turns.
Along with the irony and comedy, there is a very suspenseful cliff and river scene. Virginia goes to save Willie who is drifting down the river, in a twist of events he ends up saving her. He swings from a rope tied to a flimsy log on the edge of a waterfall, and catches her mid fall. When the Canfields call it day on the search, they walk in on Willie and Virginia kissing, then the camera slowly turn to the old man in the corner standing with a book open in his hand. He then turns to her father and says, won’t you congratulate the bride, they have just wed and Willie is no long a McKay, the never ending feud has officially ended. The last few moments of the movie were by far the best; the Canfields are accepting, and place their guns down on the table as a sign of that, Willie puts down not one put 12 …and one in his sock on the table, and the sign which appeared in the opening scene “Love thy neighbor as thyself” was shown once again..
by Sarah Emmett
Analysis of Literary Elements
In the movie “Our Hospitality”, you have a nice form of suspense, and comedy at the same time; the film is mixed with all kinds of funny moments as well as some “what’s going to happen next” kind of times. The audiences of this movie have different points of views based on what they take out of the movie. For example, the way Buster Keaton directed this movie you can take many things out of it like the stories meaning or symbolism and the different camera shots including the camera movement, can set different points of views. If the camera was in one place the whole time or if the story didn’t change settings it would’ve been a boring feature length film but the way Buster Keaton put it, made it a film to keep on watching. The characters of “Our Hospitality” are all memorable and have a distinctive way of acting. To start off with, Willie McKay is a very adventurous, funny, easily scared, and tricky person. Throughout the story, he tries to escape from the dangers of the Canfield family. Throughout his adventures he falls in love with Virginia Canfield, not knowing she is part of the Canfield family. The Canfield’s (not including Virginia) are dangerous and vicious people although at the very end they become loving people. There are many themes in the film “Our Hospitality.” The main theme throughout the whole movie was, to never give up; both sides including the Canfields and Willie never gave up throughout the whole film. The Canfields never gave up on trying to kill Willie and Willie never gave up on trying to get his father’s estate. Another major theme throughout the film was love; Willie never gave up on his secret love on Virginia and the same thing fell on Virginia. The film mostly symbolizes the mystical adventure of Willie. We learn throughout the film the way Willie gets around things and the way the Canfield family gets around Willie. The genre of “Our Hospitality” is comedy and is a feature length silent film.
by Araz Merguerian
Comparison
Our Hospitality the movie by Buster Keaton can best be compared The Woman, another great comedy of the time. Our Hospitality and The Woman both star two of the most influential actors of the time, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. These movies are similar because both movies include the main character using the desperate attempt to dress up as a woman to escape their doomful fate. Also in both films the main characters had to find a way to outsmart the fathers because the fathers had a strong dislike for these two men. The music contributed to the humor in both films because it was upbeat and fast music that made even the stunts and attempts at killing humorous. Both of these films used comedy but how they portrayed it was vastly different. Keaton showed little to no emotion during the entire film, which made people laugh at him because he had a painless expression throughout, even during the daring stunts. Buster Keaton’s character, Willie McKay, is seen as naïve and only dodges the Canfields by pure luck which makes the movie that much more comical. Charlie Chaplin, the main character of The Woman, wins the audience over with his reactions to the situations that arise around him. Chaplin’s character is witty and uses that to his advantage to trick the father and make the audience laugh at the same time. The length of these films differed as well, Our Hospitality was a feature-length film and The Woman was a short film. However, both films were influential on the comedy seen in movies for years to come.
by Ashley Simpson
In the movie “Our Hospitality”, you have a nice form of suspense, and comedy at the same time; the film is mixed with all kinds of funny moments as well as some “what’s going to happen next” kind of times. The audiences of this movie have different points of views based on what they take out of the movie. For example, the way Buster Keaton directed this movie you can take many things out of it like the stories meaning or symbolism and the different camera shots including the camera movement, can set different points of views. If the camera was in one place the whole time or if the story didn’t change settings it would’ve been a boring feature length film but the way Buster Keaton put it, made it a film to keep on watching. The characters of “Our Hospitality” are all memorable and have a distinctive way of acting. To start off with, Willie McKay is a very adventurous, funny, easily scared, and tricky person. Throughout the story, he tries to escape from the dangers of the Canfield family. Throughout his adventures he falls in love with Virginia Canfield, not knowing she is part of the Canfield family. The Canfield’s (not including Virginia) are dangerous and vicious people although at the very end they become loving people. There are many themes in the film “Our Hospitality.” The main theme throughout the whole movie was, to never give up; both sides including the Canfields and Willie never gave up throughout the whole film. The Canfields never gave up on trying to kill Willie and Willie never gave up on trying to get his father’s estate. Another major theme throughout the film was love; Willie never gave up on his secret love on Virginia and the same thing fell on Virginia. The film mostly symbolizes the mystical adventure of Willie. We learn throughout the film the way Willie gets around things and the way the Canfield family gets around Willie. The genre of “Our Hospitality” is comedy and is a feature length silent film.
by Araz Merguerian
Comparison
Our Hospitality the movie by Buster Keaton can best be compared The Woman, another great comedy of the time. Our Hospitality and The Woman both star two of the most influential actors of the time, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. These movies are similar because both movies include the main character using the desperate attempt to dress up as a woman to escape their doomful fate. Also in both films the main characters had to find a way to outsmart the fathers because the fathers had a strong dislike for these two men. The music contributed to the humor in both films because it was upbeat and fast music that made even the stunts and attempts at killing humorous. Both of these films used comedy but how they portrayed it was vastly different. Keaton showed little to no emotion during the entire film, which made people laugh at him because he had a painless expression throughout, even during the daring stunts. Buster Keaton’s character, Willie McKay, is seen as naïve and only dodges the Canfields by pure luck which makes the movie that much more comical. Charlie Chaplin, the main character of The Woman, wins the audience over with his reactions to the situations that arise around him. Chaplin’s character is witty and uses that to his advantage to trick the father and make the audience laugh at the same time. The length of these films differed as well, Our Hospitality was a feature-length film and The Woman was a short film. However, both films were influential on the comedy seen in movies for years to come.
by Ashley Simpson
Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, 1927)
Sunrise is a 1927 silent film. The story is about a man cheating on his wife with a woman from the city. The man and his wife have a child together, but he cheats on her anyway, with the wife knowing about it. The man meets with the woman from the city one night and she tells him to drown his wife, sell his farm, and move with her to the city. He gets angry with her, he even started to choke her. She reasons with him and he agrees to kill his wife.
The next day he asks his wife to go on the water with him for the day. She is very excited because she thinks her husband finally loves her again. They go out on the water and she begins to realized what's happening. He docks the boat and she runs out into the forest. He chases her and she ends up at a trolley station and hops on a trolley, so does her husband. She is very afraid of him beacause she knows what he was going to do and ignores him the whole time. They arrive at a trolley stop in the city. She keeps running away from him, until she finally gives in and stays with him. He gives her bread, but she ignores him, starts crying and leaves the cafe. He follows her and then he buys her flowers. She just keeps crying. They end up by a church where a wedding is being held and they decide to watch. The husband sees how much the groom loves his bride and realizes what he has done to his wife, and begs for her forgiveness.
She forgives him and they spend the rest of the day doing things throughout the city, such as getting their picture taken, going to the carnival, and going to dinner. They head back home on the trolly and go back to their boat. They are sailing home when a severe storm hits. The man quickly puts down the sails, and tries to paddle home. The boat flips over. The man wakes up on some rocks with out his wife. He heads back to the little town they live in to get people to help him search for his wife. They couldn't find her so he goes back home. The woman from the city sees that his wife dies, and goes to see the man. He goes out to see her and gets angry, and starts to chase her. He starts strangling her, but then he hears a voice yelling that they found his wife. He stops hurting the woman and runs to his house and finds her on his bed. Everything turns out to be all right, and the woman from the city moves back to the city.
by Ally Beardsley
The next day he asks his wife to go on the water with him for the day. She is very excited because she thinks her husband finally loves her again. They go out on the water and she begins to realized what's happening. He docks the boat and she runs out into the forest. He chases her and she ends up at a trolley station and hops on a trolley, so does her husband. She is very afraid of him beacause she knows what he was going to do and ignores him the whole time. They arrive at a trolley stop in the city. She keeps running away from him, until she finally gives in and stays with him. He gives her bread, but she ignores him, starts crying and leaves the cafe. He follows her and then he buys her flowers. She just keeps crying. They end up by a church where a wedding is being held and they decide to watch. The husband sees how much the groom loves his bride and realizes what he has done to his wife, and begs for her forgiveness.
She forgives him and they spend the rest of the day doing things throughout the city, such as getting their picture taken, going to the carnival, and going to dinner. They head back home on the trolly and go back to their boat. They are sailing home when a severe storm hits. The man quickly puts down the sails, and tries to paddle home. The boat flips over. The man wakes up on some rocks with out his wife. He heads back to the little town they live in to get people to help him search for his wife. They couldn't find her so he goes back home. The woman from the city sees that his wife dies, and goes to see the man. He goes out to see her and gets angry, and starts to chase her. He starts strangling her, but then he hears a voice yelling that they found his wife. He stops hurting the woman and runs to his house and finds her on his bed. Everything turns out to be all right, and the woman from the city moves back to the city.
by Ally Beardsley
Analysis of Film Elements:
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), a silent black and white film by F. W. Murnau, contains many examples of film elements that are interesting and unique to this particular film. lronically, for a silent film, the sound in the film is the most obvious of all film elements in the way that it stands out. The background music is changed throughout the movie to reflect different moods, changes in plot, or changes in the characte/s attitudes. This is what usually occurs in most silent films; however, the sound in Sunrse contains something extra: Sound effects are added to represent actually noises in the film, and even music being played in the film. For example, a bell can be heard chiming downtown, and a crowd is heard clapping when the man and wife are at the fair.
The sound is not the only element with significance in Sunrise. The image in the film seems to have good quality for its time, other than the fact that it seems exceptionally dark. The image's focus shifts at different points in the movie: At certain times it focuses on rural life in nature, but at other times it focuses on bustling city life. This creates a contrast that is definitely a theme in this film that is portrayed in more ways than one. Also, the sunrise at the end of the film, although inspiring, did not seem very realistic; perhaps the director used some kind of special lighting technique to achieve this effect.
The cinematography in this film utilizes mostly still shots. Even with the background is moving, the camera is usually stuck at a fixed point in relation to the still foreground, and it is facing a fixed direction. However, a change of style can be seen when the man and wife are downtown, and the camera follows them, rotating and bouncing as if it is a person following the couple, silently observing their actions. Also, close-ups are used many times throughout the film. These show the emotions of the characters, which seem to be constantly changing.
Many techniques for editing the shots together are displayed in this film. For the majority of the film, the shots simply switch quickly from one to the next and don't use any special techniques. However, some ofthese involve cross-cutting, where the two shots are switched quickly back and forth to show expressions on the characters faces and how they quickly change. Some scenes in the film use super imposition and dissolve to emphasize that the scene is changing'
Finally, the mise-en-scene in the film: lt centers on low light and costumes and set that is realistic for the time period in which the movie takes place, which is also the time period in which the movie was filmed. The actors on screen are talented; they can change their personalities easily and also the way the audience look at them. lt doesn't seem like a lot of props or items had to be used in this film, because most of it consists of scenes of nature. There was an exception to this during the city scene, where many objects, such as wine bottles and bread, had to be included in the set.'
by Nick Sichau
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), a silent black and white film by F. W. Murnau, contains many examples of film elements that are interesting and unique to this particular film. lronically, for a silent film, the sound in the film is the most obvious of all film elements in the way that it stands out. The background music is changed throughout the movie to reflect different moods, changes in plot, or changes in the characte/s attitudes. This is what usually occurs in most silent films; however, the sound in Sunrse contains something extra: Sound effects are added to represent actually noises in the film, and even music being played in the film. For example, a bell can be heard chiming downtown, and a crowd is heard clapping when the man and wife are at the fair.
The sound is not the only element with significance in Sunrise. The image in the film seems to have good quality for its time, other than the fact that it seems exceptionally dark. The image's focus shifts at different points in the movie: At certain times it focuses on rural life in nature, but at other times it focuses on bustling city life. This creates a contrast that is definitely a theme in this film that is portrayed in more ways than one. Also, the sunrise at the end of the film, although inspiring, did not seem very realistic; perhaps the director used some kind of special lighting technique to achieve this effect.
The cinematography in this film utilizes mostly still shots. Even with the background is moving, the camera is usually stuck at a fixed point in relation to the still foreground, and it is facing a fixed direction. However, a change of style can be seen when the man and wife are downtown, and the camera follows them, rotating and bouncing as if it is a person following the couple, silently observing their actions. Also, close-ups are used many times throughout the film. These show the emotions of the characters, which seem to be constantly changing.
Many techniques for editing the shots together are displayed in this film. For the majority of the film, the shots simply switch quickly from one to the next and don't use any special techniques. However, some ofthese involve cross-cutting, where the two shots are switched quickly back and forth to show expressions on the characters faces and how they quickly change. Some scenes in the film use super imposition and dissolve to emphasize that the scene is changing'
Finally, the mise-en-scene in the film: lt centers on low light and costumes and set that is realistic for the time period in which the movie takes place, which is also the time period in which the movie was filmed. The actors on screen are talented; they can change their personalities easily and also the way the audience look at them. lt doesn't seem like a lot of props or items had to be used in this film, because most of it consists of scenes of nature. There was an exception to this during the city scene, where many objects, such as wine bottles and bread, had to be included in the set.'
by Nick Sichau
Analysis of Literary Elements:
In the film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, the audience is feeling a large amount of emotions. In the scene where the city women suggested that the man should drown his wife in the lake for them to be together and when he actually brought his wife out to the lake with the intentions to drown her gave the audience a feel of sorrow, confusion, and also a feeling that puts you at the edge of your seat in anticipation. When the protagonist does not kill his wife, the whole audience will have a sense of relief. There are many characters in Sunrise, but the protagonist would definitely be the man that was having an affair with the city women but soon after fell back in love with his farmer wife. The man seems to realize how much he loves his wife right at the last minute when he was about to take her life. He looked as if he had a sense of realization on who he truly loved. After that moment, he did everything/anything to make her happy. He took her out to take professional pictures of them both, bought her flowers, took her to a carnival, and also danced with her. Yet what I think what really made him realize how much he loved her was when they were out on the rowboat in the middle of the night and a storm came which caused an idea of her drowning to death. That then had him going mad, looking for her and choking the city women close to death. When his wife came back unharmed, he was more than overjoyed. As for themes, Sunrise has a few. But, the main theme would be to re- appreciate what you have. This is because the protagonist forgot all about his love for his wife and seemed to have lost all happiness in his life as well as forgetting how much they admired each other. When it comes to symbolism, the film Sunrise has quite a lot. When the man was rowing out to the middle of the lake with his wife with the sour idea to drown her in his mind, his clothes and features are dirty and dark. Yet, his wife is dressed with bright colors and is very much clean. This conveys the guilty and the innocent. This silent film was very expensive for its time. The city streets scene costed about $200,000 which was a lot of money back in the 1920s and still is a lot of money now. In the beginning of the film, you see a man with another women while his wife sits alone with their child. That is quite common nowadays so others might not think too much about it. Then the city women starts talking about them being together and how he should live with her in the city and drown his wife to do so is when everything starts going haywire. We don't think much but happiness and adoration when the protagonist and his wife is back to their joyful selves, that's until we see them back on the same lake with a storm coming in and us thinking that the wife drowned. The structure of the story is very well put and quite exciting. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans is all about the drama, suspense, with a side of betrayal that all helped tie the loose ends of the story together.
by Angelika Bumgarner
In the film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, the audience is feeling a large amount of emotions. In the scene where the city women suggested that the man should drown his wife in the lake for them to be together and when he actually brought his wife out to the lake with the intentions to drown her gave the audience a feel of sorrow, confusion, and also a feeling that puts you at the edge of your seat in anticipation. When the protagonist does not kill his wife, the whole audience will have a sense of relief. There are many characters in Sunrise, but the protagonist would definitely be the man that was having an affair with the city women but soon after fell back in love with his farmer wife. The man seems to realize how much he loves his wife right at the last minute when he was about to take her life. He looked as if he had a sense of realization on who he truly loved. After that moment, he did everything/anything to make her happy. He took her out to take professional pictures of them both, bought her flowers, took her to a carnival, and also danced with her. Yet what I think what really made him realize how much he loved her was when they were out on the rowboat in the middle of the night and a storm came which caused an idea of her drowning to death. That then had him going mad, looking for her and choking the city women close to death. When his wife came back unharmed, he was more than overjoyed. As for themes, Sunrise has a few. But, the main theme would be to re- appreciate what you have. This is because the protagonist forgot all about his love for his wife and seemed to have lost all happiness in his life as well as forgetting how much they admired each other. When it comes to symbolism, the film Sunrise has quite a lot. When the man was rowing out to the middle of the lake with his wife with the sour idea to drown her in his mind, his clothes and features are dirty and dark. Yet, his wife is dressed with bright colors and is very much clean. This conveys the guilty and the innocent. This silent film was very expensive for its time. The city streets scene costed about $200,000 which was a lot of money back in the 1920s and still is a lot of money now. In the beginning of the film, you see a man with another women while his wife sits alone with their child. That is quite common nowadays so others might not think too much about it. Then the city women starts talking about them being together and how he should live with her in the city and drown his wife to do so is when everything starts going haywire. We don't think much but happiness and adoration when the protagonist and his wife is back to their joyful selves, that's until we see them back on the same lake with a storm coming in and us thinking that the wife drowned. The structure of the story is very well put and quite exciting. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans is all about the drama, suspense, with a side of betrayal that all helped tie the loose ends of the story together.
by Angelika Bumgarner
The Jazz Singer (Alan Crosland, 1927)
Summary
In the movie, The Jazz Singer, the father of Jackie is disappointed and upset about his son because he does not want to carry on the family’s tradition into singing their types of song. Instead Jackie finds more interest in Jazz music. This led up into a major argument between the father and son and caused Jackie to move out of the house for good. Over time Jackie was getting known for his singing and was able to perform with more famous and known people which also led for him to get known too. Also the father became sick and Jackie decided to show his father carrying the family tradition into singing their type of music.
· What do you think about the Jazz singer?
· Does sound make a difference in films?
· Why doesn’t the movie only have sound when he sings and not throughout the entire movie?
· Why does the dad treat his son disrespectfully?
· Why did the Jackie and his father have an argument?
· Do you think the dad should let Jackie sing what he wants to sing?
· Do you think it’s right for the dad to treat Jackie like that?
· What happened to the father towards the end?
· What did the son do for his father towards the end of the movie?
· How do you think the father felt when his son sang to him?
by Aaron Fronda
Film Review:
The 1927 the jazz singer by Alan Crossland was a emotional and predictable movie. There were many sad moments and happy moments for the protagonist Jackie Rabinowitz. The story tells that Jackie was born and raised by a Jewish family. Raised by a cantor he is not allowed to sing jazz or any other type of music that his father doesn’t approve of. For five generations the family of the Rabinowitz has kept the tradition of the males being cantors but Jackie is different and has jazz music in his blood. The Jazz Singer was one of the first films with sound in it. Without the music or the singing I think this movie would have been really bad. The music was entertaining. I actually liked it because it was calm and not very intense like in other movies. There were moments where there was intense music for example; when Papa was whipping Jackie the music went crazy. So in my opinion the music went great and went along with the scenes. The artists did fit in with the characters. The one that did the best job was Momma. Her acting was great and had the same emotions like a real mother. Papa was good too because his disappointment was believable. Now the main character has talent with his singing and not to mention his amazing whistling. In conclusion The Jazz singer was a good movie. If I would have to grade it I would give it a B.
by Octavio Murillo
Film Element Analysis:
The Jazz Singer: The 1927 classic starring Al Jolson, directed by Alan Crosland. This was the movie that changed the minds of many Americans who were still on the fence about the whole idea of sound film. Hearing his voice was a thrilling experience for many of the viewers. But it wasn’t just the amazing sound that made the experience. Many other elements of film were also used and pulled off with skill.
Most often, the camera fade was used to dissolve in-between scenes. This was used many times throughout past films, and it seemed perfected in this particular movie. No jumps, skips, or cracks. It was a smooth transition, which is interesting considering a film made two years later in 1929, Battleship Potemkin, also used the fade and it didn’t seem as smooth or perfected at all. Also, the editing was subtle, it didn’t call attention to itself, yet it kept the film going at a good pace and developed off-screen space, or other settings that you are subconsciously aware of their existence. Quick-cut scenes are concise, well-developed and add a lot to the effect of the plot.
The sound was used in less than half the movie, but considering it was the first time it had ever been used for dialogue, it wasn’t awful. It was considerable quality. There wasn’t much static, not much extra noise. It caught the sound well and had fair quality during playback.
This film, revolutionary for it’s bringing of the sound element to films worldwide. At the time, film production companies all refused the ideas of these developers because of the cost to transition into having sound in theaters, but a humble little company called Warner Bros. welcomed the idea, and luckily made the transition to sound before the stock market crash of 1929. Had they not have taken that leap of faith and produced this movie, the entire film industry would have been set back about 10 years, having to wait until after the Great Depression. Overall, The Jazz Singer brought a whole new ballgame to the film industry thanks to it’s stellar and well-developed elements.
by Emily Forschen
Literary Elements Analysis:
In the film "The Jazz Singer" they show the film in a very strict household. Whenever the film shows the main characters house the film becomes very dark and cruel because his father doesn't approve of his son being a jazz singer. But when it shows him singing the story becomes more happy and excited. The Jackie Rabowintz (the jazz singer) himself represents two choices. He can either be a famous jazz singer or sing for his religion when his father retires.
The story is structured mostly off of music and religion. and is set mostly set on the decision Jackie must make. The film has a unique style, for it uses sound only when he sings and creates a nice contrast between silent and sound films. it was a good decision that the director chose this style because silent was changing to sound during the time this film was made.
by Richie Gov
Film Comparison:
The film The Jazz Singer was a magnificent film for its time and it has grown to become a classic and iconic film in cinema history. This film had many great qualities that can be observed in many great films today and this shows that this film still has relevance. Some of the many qualities are the story, film techniques, and the acting quality. A film that could be of some comparison to The Jazz Singer would be the film The Hellboy movie franchise.
The Hellboy Franchise and The Jazz Singer have more in common that what appears on the surface. In the category of story, The Jazz Singer is about Jackie Robinowitz whose father wants him to become the next cantor of his synagogue but Jackie has is own desire to become a jazz singer, while in the Hellboy franchise the main protagonist Hellboy is being tempted with what he believes to be wrong by the beings that say they want what’s best for him. The same overall conflict occurs in both films “To choose between family and my own ambition”. The next category is film techniques, there are some common things that these films have in common like scene transitions, background music, or camera positioning and detail, but a very specific detail was the adaptation of using real places and recreating them for films purpose. The last category is the acting quality, each of the main characters and supporting characters were acted out the role to the most minor detail for their character.
For films like The Jazz Singer and the Hellboy franchise to be so closely related in style and technique yet be separated by time shows the integrity of a film like The Jazz Singer. Each film in their respective category was a very good film and gave a more than accurate portrayal of the stories. In conclusion these films share the key elements of films and the production of films.
by Darius Muir
In the movie, The Jazz Singer, the father of Jackie is disappointed and upset about his son because he does not want to carry on the family’s tradition into singing their types of song. Instead Jackie finds more interest in Jazz music. This led up into a major argument between the father and son and caused Jackie to move out of the house for good. Over time Jackie was getting known for his singing and was able to perform with more famous and known people which also led for him to get known too. Also the father became sick and Jackie decided to show his father carrying the family tradition into singing their type of music.
· What do you think about the Jazz singer?
· Does sound make a difference in films?
· Why doesn’t the movie only have sound when he sings and not throughout the entire movie?
· Why does the dad treat his son disrespectfully?
· Why did the Jackie and his father have an argument?
· Do you think the dad should let Jackie sing what he wants to sing?
· Do you think it’s right for the dad to treat Jackie like that?
· What happened to the father towards the end?
· What did the son do for his father towards the end of the movie?
· How do you think the father felt when his son sang to him?
by Aaron Fronda
Film Review:
The 1927 the jazz singer by Alan Crossland was a emotional and predictable movie. There were many sad moments and happy moments for the protagonist Jackie Rabinowitz. The story tells that Jackie was born and raised by a Jewish family. Raised by a cantor he is not allowed to sing jazz or any other type of music that his father doesn’t approve of. For five generations the family of the Rabinowitz has kept the tradition of the males being cantors but Jackie is different and has jazz music in his blood. The Jazz Singer was one of the first films with sound in it. Without the music or the singing I think this movie would have been really bad. The music was entertaining. I actually liked it because it was calm and not very intense like in other movies. There were moments where there was intense music for example; when Papa was whipping Jackie the music went crazy. So in my opinion the music went great and went along with the scenes. The artists did fit in with the characters. The one that did the best job was Momma. Her acting was great and had the same emotions like a real mother. Papa was good too because his disappointment was believable. Now the main character has talent with his singing and not to mention his amazing whistling. In conclusion The Jazz singer was a good movie. If I would have to grade it I would give it a B.
by Octavio Murillo
Film Element Analysis:
The Jazz Singer: The 1927 classic starring Al Jolson, directed by Alan Crosland. This was the movie that changed the minds of many Americans who were still on the fence about the whole idea of sound film. Hearing his voice was a thrilling experience for many of the viewers. But it wasn’t just the amazing sound that made the experience. Many other elements of film were also used and pulled off with skill.
Most often, the camera fade was used to dissolve in-between scenes. This was used many times throughout past films, and it seemed perfected in this particular movie. No jumps, skips, or cracks. It was a smooth transition, which is interesting considering a film made two years later in 1929, Battleship Potemkin, also used the fade and it didn’t seem as smooth or perfected at all. Also, the editing was subtle, it didn’t call attention to itself, yet it kept the film going at a good pace and developed off-screen space, or other settings that you are subconsciously aware of their existence. Quick-cut scenes are concise, well-developed and add a lot to the effect of the plot.
The sound was used in less than half the movie, but considering it was the first time it had ever been used for dialogue, it wasn’t awful. It was considerable quality. There wasn’t much static, not much extra noise. It caught the sound well and had fair quality during playback.
This film, revolutionary for it’s bringing of the sound element to films worldwide. At the time, film production companies all refused the ideas of these developers because of the cost to transition into having sound in theaters, but a humble little company called Warner Bros. welcomed the idea, and luckily made the transition to sound before the stock market crash of 1929. Had they not have taken that leap of faith and produced this movie, the entire film industry would have been set back about 10 years, having to wait until after the Great Depression. Overall, The Jazz Singer brought a whole new ballgame to the film industry thanks to it’s stellar and well-developed elements.
by Emily Forschen
Literary Elements Analysis:
In the film "The Jazz Singer" they show the film in a very strict household. Whenever the film shows the main characters house the film becomes very dark and cruel because his father doesn't approve of his son being a jazz singer. But when it shows him singing the story becomes more happy and excited. The Jackie Rabowintz (the jazz singer) himself represents two choices. He can either be a famous jazz singer or sing for his religion when his father retires.
The story is structured mostly off of music and religion. and is set mostly set on the decision Jackie must make. The film has a unique style, for it uses sound only when he sings and creates a nice contrast between silent and sound films. it was a good decision that the director chose this style because silent was changing to sound during the time this film was made.
by Richie Gov
Film Comparison:
The film The Jazz Singer was a magnificent film for its time and it has grown to become a classic and iconic film in cinema history. This film had many great qualities that can be observed in many great films today and this shows that this film still has relevance. Some of the many qualities are the story, film techniques, and the acting quality. A film that could be of some comparison to The Jazz Singer would be the film The Hellboy movie franchise.
The Hellboy Franchise and The Jazz Singer have more in common that what appears on the surface. In the category of story, The Jazz Singer is about Jackie Robinowitz whose father wants him to become the next cantor of his synagogue but Jackie has is own desire to become a jazz singer, while in the Hellboy franchise the main protagonist Hellboy is being tempted with what he believes to be wrong by the beings that say they want what’s best for him. The same overall conflict occurs in both films “To choose between family and my own ambition”. The next category is film techniques, there are some common things that these films have in common like scene transitions, background music, or camera positioning and detail, but a very specific detail was the adaptation of using real places and recreating them for films purpose. The last category is the acting quality, each of the main characters and supporting characters were acted out the role to the most minor detail for their character.
For films like The Jazz Singer and the Hellboy franchise to be so closely related in style and technique yet be separated by time shows the integrity of a film like The Jazz Singer. Each film in their respective category was a very good film and gave a more than accurate portrayal of the stories. In conclusion these films share the key elements of films and the production of films.
by Darius Muir